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Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have succeeded in creating a model of the way the brain releases dopamine, an important chemical involved in transmitting signals between nerve cells. The model, the product of an interdisciplinary collaboration, will be an important tool in helping scientists understand how we learn and how the brain perceives reward and punishment. It is hoped that the model can be used to understand drug addiction and in the treatment of schizophrenia. (Source: Medical News Today, 10/22/10)

Many studies have suggested that genetic differences make some individuals more susceptible to the addictive effects of alcohol and other drugs. Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory provide the first experimental evidence to directly support this idea in a study in mice reported in the October 19, 2010, issue of Alcoholism Clinical Experimental Research. (Source: Medical News Today, 10/21/10)

Alcohol, to an adolescent, is often seen as a rite of passage. Many teenagers view alcohol (as well as other drugs) as a gateway to adulthood, but are often blissfully unaware of the damage that it can cause to their bodies. A new study of the effects of excessive alcohol and other drugs in adolescents has shown that both alcohol and marijuana overuse can cause serious detrimental effects on the development of the teenage mind. (Source: Medical News Today, 10/21/10)

South Dakota State University researchers have demonstrated for the first time that a plant-derived compound used to treat nicotine addiction also has significant effects against alcohol addiction.
SDSU scientists are now investigating whether the compound may offer lasting treatment against alcohol relapse, craving, and perhaps alcohol-nicotine co-addiction as well. (Source: Medical News Today, 10/21/10)

If we are serious about educating our children at every level from elementary school through college, we’d better recognize that money alone will not solve the problem. We can fill our schools with all the modern gadgetry — computers, great graphics, television screens in every classroom, internet tutoring — and we can pay teachers, principals, professors and college presidents more and more money. That’s the easy stuff.

The tough stuff is revamping communities, strengthening parents and families, and getting rid of the drugs and the alcohol abuse that infect so many schools and campuses. If we don’t tackle the tough stuff, these high ticket investments are not likely to have more than a marginal impact and we’ll still be “Waiting for ‘Superman’”. (by Joseph A. Califano, Jr., The Chairmans Corner, 10/21/10)

A broad coalition of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), employers, federal officials, researchers, and behavioral health care providers wants to see EAPs screen and provide brief intervention for problem drinking on a routine basis by October 2011.
The BIG initiative (named for the Brief Intervention Group) set the ambitious goal of increasing the number of people identified by EAPs as having alcohol problems by 100% between October 2008 and October 2011. (Source: Join Together, 10/21/10)

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have discovered a gene variant that may protect against alcoholism.
The variant, in a gene called CYP2E1, is associated with a person’s response to alcohol. For the ten to twenty percent of people that possess this variant, those first few drinks leave them feeling more inebriated than the rest of the human population, who harbor a different version of the gene. (Source: Medical News Today, 10.20.10)

The Treatment Research Institute (TRI) released on Sept. 13 a white paper outlining the successes and challenges faced by model programs aimed at integrating substance abuse services into primary care. The institute believes the paper can serve as a much-needed “roadmap” for new integration projects across the country.
The report, entitled „Integrating Substance Use Services into Health Care Settings: An Issue Brief on Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead,“ summarizes the results of the 2010 Forum on Integration, a conference hosted by TRI in April. (Source: Join Together, 10/19/10)

Alcohol is one of the most commonly abused substances, and men are up to twice as likely to develop alcoholism as women. Until now, the underlying biology contributing to this difference in vulnerability has remained unclear.
A new study published in Biological Psychiatry reveals that dopamine may be an important factor. (Source: Medical News Today, 10/19/10)

State Authority to Regulate Alcohol Is Under Attack by Industry.
H.R. 5034 (Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act) supports strong state alcohol regulation and protects public health and safety.
Tell Your Member of Congress to Co-Sponsor and Pass H.R. 5034
Read Marin Institute’s Recent Testimony to Congress on H.R. 5034 (Source: Marin Institute – Take Action)